Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Egyptian
Archaeology
VOLUME 96
2010
PUBLISHED BY
Published annually by
The Egypt Exploration Society
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Editorial Team
Mark collier, Editor-in-chief
Violaine chauvet, Editor
Roland Enmarch, Editor
chris Eyre, Editor
cary Martin, Editor
Ian Shaw, Editor
glenn godenho, Editorial Assistant
editorial email address: jea@ees.ac.uk
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the material discussed here once again demonstrates how vital it is to preserve and study
the records of our egyptological predecessors. by his conscientious recording of key elements
of his collection, anthony Harris has enabled the solution to one of the minor mysteries of
egyptian history.
mark collier, aidan Dodson, and Gottfried Hamernik
Two overlooked 0racles
new readings proposed for two Late Period stelae reveal additional evidence for divine oracles. in Je 72130,
nectanebo i relates how the goddess nehmetaway proclaimed his future kingship through an oracle, not a public
hieros-gamos ritual as roeder had suggested. Je 53147 (bucheum stela 9), informs us that the new buchis was
chosen by the statue of amenope during a ritual procession in Luxor, possibly from among a pool of qualiied
taurian candidates.
248
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JEA 96
While this outline is generally correct, one of the signs confused roeder, and thus he
overlooked an important detail of nectanebos rise to power. the relevant section appears in
lines 911, after the description of the rebellion:6
e e
e
e
7
roeder translated:
er verlangte nach (? dachte an ?) seiner mutter Wosret nehmet-awaj, auge des r,
in der stadt (nicht Koptos!). als er Knig von ober- und unter-gypten werden sollte (?)
mit vielen Jahren als guter (nfr) Herrscher dieses Landes, da zog er nun nach der residenz.
Der (bisherige Knig), der in dem Palaste war, verkndete einen erlass (?) ber das (?), was
in ihm geschehen war. aber nachdem sein Vater thot, der [zweimal Grosse], der Herr von
chmunu, und seine mutter Wosret nehmet-awaj [ihn] hatten erscheinen lassen [als Knig
(nswt)] der ewigkeit und Knig (bjtj) der unendlichkeit.
the primary diiculty comes from the irst sign, a rearing animal,7 which roeder
consistently read as ib, to desire.8 the same hieroglyph appears three other times on the
stela, always in the same phrase: (line 20 twice, and line 27). the irst two examples
occur in a fragmentary section describing a festival in Hermopolis:9
roeder translated the irst phrase as drsteten nach... and the second as nach der schnheit
drstetet... (sexuell?). explaining his interpretation, he further noted:10
Die zweimalige Verbindung von jb mit nfr.w verstehe ich nicht (). sicher ist der Jubel der
bevlkerung von Hermopolis ber die ehrung der Gttin durch den Knig. man knnte
an die sexuelle Vermischung der Geschlechter in der festesfreude denken.
s. Grallert, Bauen Stiften Weihen: gyptische Bau- und Restaurierungsinschriften von den Anfngen bis zur 30.
Dynastie (aDaiK 18; berlin, 2001), 50304, 672; . engsheden, La reconstitution du verbe en gyptien de tradition
40030 avant J.-C. (use 3; uppsala, 2003), 4245 (s.v. Hermopolis); blbaum, Denn ich bin ein Knig, der die
Maat liebt, passim.
6
text after roeder, ASAE 52, 3901; with corrections based on the published photograph (ibid., pl. x).
7
although roeder copied a rearing calf, the photographs show this sign has a thinner body and longer ears.
8
a similar sign actually writes ib in the same inscription, in line 7: wnn Hm=f m ibw HA km.t, His majesty is
a shelter () around egypt. roeder, ASAE 52, 386 and 421, translated this phrase as seine majestt war in
sorge (?) um Kemet, and elsewhere referred to this sign as das unverstndliche Gazelle. nonetheless, the royal
epithet ibw HA Km.t is quite common; see H. W. fairman, an introduction to the study of Ptolemaic signs and
their Values, BIFAO 43 (1945), 723 n. 1; H. de meulenaere, un sens particulier des prpositions m-rw.tj et
m-itr.tj , BIFAO 53 (1953), 923.
9
roeder, ASAE 52, 400.
10
ibid., 401.
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249
the third example of this phrase appears in a clearer section relating how nehmetaway
entered her newly renovated temple during a large festival (line 27):11
roeder translated, ihre majestt war in sehnsucht nach der schnheit des Knigs, ihr Herz
jubelte ber das, was seine majestt ihr tat, 12 and once again suggested that the expression
in question hier sexuell gedeutet werden kann. nonetheless, he also questioned whether
this phrase sollte nur danken bedeuten?. roeders conviction that the rearing animal
must read ib led him to postulate a literal hieros gamos between nectanebo and nehmetaway
during a festival in Hermopolis, possibly accompanied by similar couplings among the
celebrants. While such an event is theoretically possible, a diferent interpretation of the
sign leads to a far simpler reconstruction of events.
the rearing mammal may in fact be a simple variant of the girafe, writing sr to proclaim;
announce; predict. a similar example of such confusion occurs in the tomb of ramesses iV
(KV 2), where the scribe replaced the girafe with a rearing goat.13 the same confusion
probably explains why the jackal can also have the phonetic value sr.14
With this new interpretation, the enigmatic phrase becomes the standard expression:
sr nfrw (n), to proclaim the goodness (of someone); to predict good things (for someone).15
therefore, one can translate the aforementioned passages with no sexual overtones, for
example:
xrw nhm n niw.t tn pH.n=f [H]r.t
Hr sr nfrw nty [] nfr pr m Ra
Hr nb [] sr nfrw []
the sound of jubilation from this city reached up to [hea]ven,
extolling the goodness of [] the good [] who came forth from re,16
everybody [] proclaiming the goodness of []
similarly:
wnn Hm(.t)=s Hr sr nfrw nty nsw.t
ib=s m Haa m ir(.t) n=s Hm=f
Her majesty praised the goodness of the king,
her heart rejoicing because of what His majesty did for her.
more importantly, this new reading of the rearing animal clears up the interesting historical
section:
11
ibid., 407.
ibid., 408.
13
G. roulin, Le Livre de la Nuit: Une composition gyptienne de lau-del (obo 147; fribourg, 1996), i, 56 n. o,
and ii, 7; an even stranger version of this sign appears in the parallel text from the tomb of ramesses Vi.
14
. chassinat, Le mystre dOsiris au mois de Khoiak (cairo, 1968), ii, 676 n. 9; c. traunecker, Coptos: Dieux
et hommes sur le parvis de Geb (oLa 43; Leuven, 1992), 64 n. q; s. cauville, Dendara: Le fonds hiroglyphique au
temps de Cloptre (Paris, 2001), 253; see also J. assmann, eine traumofenbarung der Gttin Hathor, RdE 30
(1978), 26 col. 10, 29 n. d; W. Westendorf, Horus und seth (?) auf der Palastfassade des semerchet oder noch
einmal: Die Girafe und das seth-tier, GM 223 (2009), 107. LGG Vi, 426b, signals an example of sr written
with a donkey, but the photograph shows the sign is actually a girafe: see H. Gauthier, Le temple de Kalabchah
(cairo, 1911), 169 and pl. lviii.a.
15
Wb. iV, 190.1314; cf. a. Gutbub, Textes fondamentaux de la thologie de Kom Ombo (bde 47; cairo, 1973),
i, 397 n. f, 416 n. k; n.-c. Grimal, Les termes de la propagande royal gyptienne, de la XXIXe dynastie la conqute
dAlexandre (maibL 6; Paris, 1986), 119; J.-m. Kruchten, Le grande texte oraculaire de Djhutymose, intendant
du domaine dAmon sous le pontiicat de Pinedjem II (mre 5; brussels, 1986), 47 n. 4 (prdire du bonheur);
m. smith, The Mortuary Texts of Papyrus BM 10507 (cDPbm 3; London, 1987), 90 n. a referring to line Vi, 1;
P. Wilson, A Ptolemaic Lexikon: A Lexicographical Study of the Ptolemaic Texts in the Temple of Edfu (oLa 78;
Leuven, 1997), 881; e. chassinat, Le temple de Dendara, ii (cairo, 1934), 199.8; e. chassinat and f. Daumas, Le
temple de Dendara, Viii (cairo, 1978), 40.2.
16
one can probably restore the good [god] who came forth from re, as an epithet of the king; cf. Grimal, Les
termes de la propagande, 102 n. 255.
12
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250
JEA 96
c) for as nty, see roeder, ASAE 52, 421, and cf. also the naukratis stela, col. 13, and
mma 1996.91, col. 2 (both from the reign of nectanebo i). for this designation of the
king, see Wb. i, 214.1217; i. Guermeur, Glanures (34), BIFAO 106 (2006), 124 n. e.
compare also G. Lefebvre, Le tombeau de Petosiris (cairo, 1924), inscr. no. 106.1516, where
Petosiris claims to have paid his workman properly just as one had done in the past while a
king was still in the palace (mi ir.tw Dr m-bAH r/iw nsw.t wn(.w) m aH).
d) for the phrase xpr im=f, what happened to him, see Wb. iii, 262.1821; G. Vittmann,
Der demotische Papyrus Rylands 9 (at 38; Wiesbaden, 1998), ii, 31415; f. r. Herbin,
trois papyrus hiroglyphiques dpoque romaine, RdE 59 (2008), 129 n. 36.
according to this section, nehmetaway made an oracular or ominous prediction to
nectanebo when he visited Hermopolis as a general.19 nectanebo then returned to the
palace, and dutifully reported the miraculous event to the reigning monarch. only later
(ir m-xt) did thoth and nehmetaway make nectanebo the new king. Derchain recently
recognized a similar oracular appearance of nehmetaway in the autobiographical texts of
Petosiris (61.338; 81.708), when the priest carried the processional bark of the goddess
around Hermopolis so she might signal the optimal location for her new temple.20
17
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While this narrative is undoubtedly a work of royal propaganda, the Hermopolis stela
does not necessarily refer to a military coup dtat, as some have suggested.21 rather, the
inscription follows a long tradition of royal stelae recording the divine selection by a god or
goddess. a similar example is the historical inscription from the chapelle rouge in which
the processional image of amun indicates his desire for Hatshepsut to assume the throne.22
even closer is the sphinx stela, where the sphinx speaks to a young thutmosis iV as
prince, and promises to make him king if he clears away the encroaching sand.23 the latter
text suggests that royal succession was not always based on seniority, and that thutmosis iV
ensured his status as crown Prince in part through the benefactions he performed in Giza.24
Likewise, the general nectanebo may have exploited the oracle of nehmetaway to establish
himself as a legitimate successor to the mendesian kings of the twenty-ninth Dynasty.
the Hermopolis stela avoids mentioning the previous king, using periphrastic expressions
such as the one who was in the palace (nt(y) m aH), and the king who was before him (nswt
wn(.w) Xr HA.t=f) in lines 7 and 9. scholars generally assume this king was achoris,25 and the
allusion to times of troubles when a certain rebel became ruler (xpr=f m HoA) over part of the
country (line 8) aptly describes the dynastic struggles between achoris and the Gegenknig
Psammuthis.26
the fact that nectanebo reported (smi) the oracle to the reigning monarch, suggests he had
a reasonable claim to the royal succession, perhaps because he was actually related to achoris.
blbaum recently denied any connection between nectanebo i and the twenty-ninth
Dynasty because diese oftmals nachgesagte Verwandtschaft mit nephorites i. grndet sich
auf mideutung einer textpassage der Demotischen chronik und mu revidiert werden.27
However, the relationship between the mendesian and sebennytic lines is still supported by
a hieroglyphic inscription which refers to nectanebos father, the great generalissimo teos,28
as kings son (zA nsw.t).29 thus, even if one excludes the Demotic chronicle, nectanebo i
must have been the grandson of a certain king who, for chronological reasons, was most
likely nepherites i. in that case, nectanebo i could have been a viable candidate for king
after nepherites ii after all.
the new reading does not clear nectanebo i of usurping the throne, and one can easily
imagine him storming to the capital with the military support of Hermopolis, expressed
in the form of an oracular decision. However, this stela now demonstrates the continued
political importance of oracles in Late Period egypt, presaging to some extent alexanders
voyage to siwa only ifty years later.
JE 53147 Bucheum Stela 9
although most of the bucheum stelae from armant follow a standardized formula, the
inscription on Je 53147 provides many unparalleled details about the selection process
21
e.g. ray, in sancisi-Weerenburg (ed.), Achaemenid History i, 823; Lloyd, CAH 2 Vi, 3401.
P. Lacau and H. chevrier, Une chapelle dHatshepsout Karnak (cairo, 1977), i, 97142.
23
see recently a. Klug, Knigliche Stelen in der Zeit von Ahmose bis Amenophis III (monaeg 8; brussels, 2002),
296304, 5245; P. beylage, Aufbau der kniglichen Stelentexte vom Beginn der 18. Dynastie bis zur Amarnazeit
(at 54; Wiesbaden, 2002), 6575, 6013.
24
see the discussion of b. m. bryan, The Reign of Thutmose IV (baltimore, 1991), 3892.
25
H. de meulenaere, La famille royale des nectanbo, ZS 90 (1963), 90; P.-m. chevereau, Prosopographie
des cadres militaires gyptiens de la Basse poque (eme 2; Paris, 1985), 154 and 353.
26
J. ray, Psammuthis and Hakoris, JEA 72 (1986), 14958; connection noted by blbaum, Denn ich bin
ein Knig, der die Maat liebt, 18; for the complicated history of the twenty-ninth Dynasty, see recently J.-Y.
carrez-maratray, Psammtique le tyran: Pouvoir, usurpation et alliances en mditerrane orientale au iVe sicle
av. J.-c., Transeuphratne 30 (2005), 3762.
27
blbaum, Denn ich bin ein Knig, der die Maat liebt, 18.
28
note also that blbaum, ibid., mistranslated the titulary of teos (Urk. ii, 26.10), reading Vorsteher der
groen Kornspeicher? (jm(j)-r Ssr.w? wr.w) instead of imy-rA mSa wr; for this common spelling of the title, see
Wb. ii, 155, and chevereau, Prosopographie, 2602.
29
see already de meulenaere, ZS 90, 902; blbaum, Denn ich bin ein Knig, der die Maat liebt, 18, did not
mention this important inscription. for the genealogy of the thirtieth Dynasty, see most recently . engsheden,
La parent des nectanbo, CdE 81 (2006), 6270.
22
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JEA 96
for a new Buchis bull.30 When a candidate for the buchis is born somewhere near asfun,
local priests recognize his special colouring and take him to esna,31 and a group of priests
from armant sail south to inspect him there. from esna, the bull travels in a procession to
Victorious thebes for his enthronement (sxn), while the king and his entourage come from
alexandria to participate in the event.
after this lengthy introduction, the coronation rites consist of two lines written in
abbreviated day-book style. Previous translators have all passed over a small yet signiicant
detail (line 10):32
s2
(
G (
in earlier translations, it is unclear why the stela would mention amenopes position vis-vis (m-aoA) the buchis candidate, and this appears to be a superluous detail. However, if
one translates aHa not as, to stand, but to stand still or stop moving (Wb. i, 218.8-10 and
220.9), then one arrives at a diferent reconstruction:
amenope of Djeme appeared in procession; his majesty went in front of him; amenope
came to a stop directly across from this particular god (in Imn-Ip.t aHa m-aoA nTr pn); likewise the king (and the entourage, prophets, priests of the staf of the House of Life, and
all troops of the entire land which had come with him to thebes. then this good god was
enthroned).
With this modiied translation, the reason for the phrase m-aoA becomes clear. theban
priests carried the portable bark of amenope of Djeme in procession (sxa), and the procession
stopped only when he was in front of the bull in question. in other words, amenope indicated
his choice of buchis bull by suddenly rendering the bark immovable.36 this may imply that
there were actually multiple candidates vying to become the new buchis. although the wabpriests of sakhmet were specially trained to spot the distinctive markings on sacred animals,37
apparently only a god could determine which one was the true earthly manifestation.
an inscription from edfu outlines a similar ritual for choosing sacred falcons in much greater
detail.38 the statue of Horus behedety is carried in procession to the falcon house (pr n bik).
30
for this stela, see L. Goldbrunner, Buchis: Eine Untersuchung zur Theologie des heiligen Stieres in Theben
zur griechisch-rmischen Zeit (mre 11; brepols, 2003), 5761, pl. 5; and most recently J.-c. Grenier, Les
prgrinations dun boukhis en Haute thbade, in c. thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbaines tardives
(cenim 3; montpellier, 2009), 3948.
31
the proper reading of this toponym follows Grenier, in thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbaines
tardives, 4; it had been already suggested briely by s. sauneron, Quatres campagnes Esna (esna i; cairo, 1959),
21 n. 2. for connections between the clergy of thebes, armant, and esna, see coulon, RdE 52, 1003.
32
following the improved text of Grenier, in thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbaines tardives, 43.
33
H. W. fairman, The Bucheum, ii: The Inscriptions (ees em 41; London, 1934), 7.
34
Goldbrunner, Buchis, 60.
35
Grenier, in thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbaines tardives, 43.
36
see J. ern, egyptian oracles, in r.a. Parker, A Saite Oracle Papyrus from Thebes in the Brooklyn Museum
(Providence, 1962), 445, for the diferent movements of processional barks during oracles.
37
for the duties of these priests, see recently J. osing and G. rosati, Papiri gerogliici e ieratici da Tebtynis
(florence, 1998), 189215; J. f. Quack, tabuisierte und ausgegrenzte Kranke nach dem buch vom tempel ,
in H.-W. fischer-elfert (ed.), Papyrus Ebers und die antike Heilkunde (Philippika 7; Wiesbaden, 2005), 678.
38
e. chassinat, Le temple dEdfou, Vi (cairo, 1931), 102.48; see recently D. Kurth, Trefpunkt der Gtter:
Inschriften aus dem Tempel des Horus von Edfu (Dsseldorf, 1998), 2323 (no. 31).
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the names of multiple priests are called until the statue assents (hn) to one of them. this
particular priest, called the servant of the falcon (Hm gmHsw), then stands in the forecourt in
front of (m-aoA) the portable bark of Horus while the following procedure takes place:39
sTA Drty.w twt(.w) r Ra m inm=sn r xft-Hr n nTr pn wa-wa
spr=f m Htp Hr bik=f
bringing falcons resembling Re in their plumage before this god, one by one, (until) he
(Horus) decides upon his particular falcon in peace.
Just like in the bucheum stela, the priests of edfu selected multiple falcons whose plumage
qualiied them to become sacred falcons. However, the statue of Horus behedety had the
inal word, picking his favorite choice in traditional oracular procedure.
although the verb aHa, to stop, does not occur in most oracular texts, a parallel does exist
in a mysterious Ptolemaic stela from Diospolis Parva dating to the reign of Ptolemy iii
(lines x+78):40
spr Hm=f r wA.t n Dw-StA m-aoA sTA.t nt Knm.t
aHa pw ir.n=f
hn.n Hm=f wr zp-snw
His majesty came to the desert road, facing the necropolis-region of the West,41 he came
to a stop (aHa), and His majesty assented very greatly.
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returning to the bucheum stela, it is interesting to note that amenope of Djeme was
speciically used for this ritual. amenope was of course the main god of Luxor temple,47 the
location of the buchis enthronement ritual,48 but until recently he was not known to perform
oracles. However, a fascinating inscription on the statue of a Ptolemaic strategos named Plato
relates how the following occurred when amenope of Djeme appeared in processions:49
di=f Hr=f r=i
di=f rS(=i) Sfy.t=f m Haw=i
Dd=f n=i sxr.w
wHa=i m bAH=f
He would turn his face to me,50 causing me to rejoice (because) his majesty was throughout
my body, he would pronounce oracles to me, and i would interpret in his presence.
the statue of Plato and the bucheum stela both indicate that the processional image of
amenope performed oracles.51 it appears amenope inherited the role of chief oracular god
of thebes from the deiied amenhotep i,52 a god with whom he shared much in common.53
David Klotz
47
for amenope, see primarily m. Doresse, Le dieu voil dans sa chsse et la fte de la dcade [i], RdE 23
(1971), 11336; id., Le dieu voil dans sa chsse et la fte de la dcade [ii], RdE 25 (1973), 92135; id., Le dieu
voil dans sa chsse et la fte de la dcade [iii], RdE 31 (1979), 3665; D. Klotz, Kneph: The Religion of Roman
Thebes (PhD thesis, Yale university; new Haven, 2008), 6980.
48
in lines 78, the ceremonies are set in Victorious thebes, the traditional place of his enthronement
(WAs.t-nxt.t, s.t sxn=f Dr-bAH) and more speciically in the opet (Ip.t) = Luxor temple; Grenier, in thiers (ed.),
Documents de thlogies thbaines tardives, 42, claimed that while the buchis ceremony may have taken place in
either Luxor or Karnak, the latter option is peut-tre plus probable, without noting an example where Ip.t alone
can refer to Karnak, which is properly Ip.t-s.wt. J. Quaegebeur, amnophis, nom royal et nom divin: Questions
mthodologiques, RdE 37 (1986), 97106, argued that Ip.t could refer to many locations in thebes; however, the
toponym opet exclusively designates Luxor temple in the Graeco-roman Period: cf. Klotz, Kneph, 702. the
allusion to enthronements in the past (Dr-bAH) calls to mind royal inscriptions of the eighteenth Dynasty which
explicitly locate coronation rituals within Luxor temple; cf. Lacau and chevrier, Une chapelle dHatchepsout, 133
and 135 n. j; a. H. Gardiner, the coronation of King @aremHab, JEA 39 (1953), 1415 (especially line 14);
L. bell, Luxor temple and the cult of the royal Ka, JNES 44 (1985), 25194.
49
coulon, RdE 52, 88 col. 3, 90, 96, 1038.
50
for the oracular phrase rdi-Hr in relation to the processional image of amenope, see K. Jansen-Winkeln, ein
Priester als restaurator: Zu einer ptolemischen inschrift am Luxortempel, ZS 132 (2005), 35, pl. xvi, line 1.
51
for representations of the portable bark of amenope of Djeme, see Doresse, rde 23, 11336.
52
cf. J. ern, Le culte d'amenophis i chez les ouvriers de la ncropole thbaine, BIFAO 27 (1927), 17691.
53
for similarities between the processional barks of amenhotep i and amenope, see already Doresse, RdE 25,
112; for confusion between the names amenhotep and amenope, see Quaegebeur, RdE 37, 97106.